An Overview of Gnosticism by Alexandra Burns
Gnosticism does not refer to a cohesive or comprehensive system of thought. Rather, it is the name used to embrace a large number of sects on the hinterland between Christianity and heathen thought in the 2-5th century. The predominant doctrine of Gnosticism is that of salvation through knowledge. Unlike almost all pagan systems, which held that the soul attains its proper end by obedience of mind and will to the Supreme Power, Gnosticism places the salvation of the soul merely in the possession of a quasi-intuitive knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and of magic formulae indicative of that knowledge. Gnostics were "people who knew", and their knowledge at once constituted them a superior class of beings, whose present and future status was essentially different from that of those who, for whatever reason, did not know. While borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, Gnosticism held matter to be a deterioration of the spirit, and the whole universe a depravation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit. which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour.
The origin of Gnosticism has long been a matter of controversy, but one attribution of its origin to the Orphic sect situates Gnosticism's abstract concepts in a more concrete setting and illustrates the dualism was characteristic of Gnosticism. The Orphic sect dates back to the 6th century bc, a theology which profoundly influenced Plato and later Greek thought. This theology is embodied in the myth of Zagreus (Dionysus), begotten by Zeus of Demeter. Zagreus fell under the power of the Titans, wicked enemies of Zeus. In his effort to escape them, Zagreus changed himself into a bull; but the Titans captured him, tore him to pieces, and devoured him. However, Zeus blasted the Titans by a flash of lightning, and from their ashes arose the human race. Mankind thus possesses two elements: a divine element from Zagreus and a wicked element from the Titans. This mythology expresses the Orphic theology of the dualism of body and soul. Man must free himself from the Titanic elements and, purified, return to the gods, a fragment of whom is living in him.
Later outlines of this dualism regarding the nature of man built on and abstracted this theology. According to this view, man stands between two worlds characterized by conflicting attributes: one is visible, the other invisible, one mortal and the other divine or immortal, one pertaining to the body, the lower parts of man's soul , and other world pertaining to the highest part of the soul, the reasoning part or mind (nous). Evil resides in the lower, mortal parts of the soul. Matter is by definition the source of evil. The origin of man's truest self (his soul) is in the invisible world, from where his soul has fallen into the visible world of matter. The physical body is seen as a hindrance, a burden, sometimes even as the tomb of the soul. Salvation is the freeing of the soul from its entanglement in the physical world so that it may wing its way back to the heavenly world. Redemption is accomplished by a heavenly redeemer who descends to earth to deliver the fallen souls and lead them back to heaven.
In the biblical view by contrast, man is God's creature,
although rebellious, sinful and fallen. Man is a single
psychosomatic unit who, once he dies, awaits a return to life
through resurrection. The whole man dies and the whole man
returns to life again. Salvation never means flight from the
world; rather, man is firmly located on the earth. Salvation
does not mean the gathering of the souls of the righteous in
heaven; it means the gathering of a redeemed people on a
redeemed earth in perfected fellowship with God. Still, as
Anthony Buzzard points out, when it comes to the New Testament
doctrine of resurrection from the dead, traditional Christianity
surrendered to Gnosticism. The Biblical doctrine that the whole
man dies and the whole man is brought to life at the
resurrection for immortality on the earth has for the most part
been replaced by the idea that the dead are already fully alive
in heaven as disembodied souls.
|
|
|
